Welcome Letter

Welcome to Pine River!

Every day I come to work at the Pine River Chamber of Commerce, I am reminded of the vast history of the Pine River area. It helps that we have a lot of this history hanging on our walls. History tends to come to the surface whenever there is great change in a community. This past year, we experienced quite a bit we would love for you to see.

One of the most noticeable differences is the new bridge across the Pine River and the new rock riffle dam. While this may have interrupted our Duck Races, we are thankful to see the progress our city is making.

It still brings to mind the origins of the dam and the work it did for our area all those years ago. In 1910, the dam and a hydroelectric plant were built to provide electrical power to Pine River and outlying communities, such as Backus, Jenkins, Pequot Lakes and Nisswa. It was the first major electrical generating plant in our area and continued its operation until it was discontinued in 1946. No doubt the site of the Pine River dam has seen many historical trends, from the fur trappers to the thousands of miles of timber, in the years before the hydroelectric plant’s construction.

Pine River will continue our traditions in 2022. Our annual events span all seasons, with Happy Dancing Turtle’s Back to Basics event and the weekly farmers market kicking off early in the year. In the summer we highlight Summerfest, a Rhubarb Festival, the Lakes Area Bluegrass Festival and the Cass County Fair.

The Arts off 84 Art Crawl, Heritage Days and the Buckskinner Encampment draw people here in the fall, and craft fairs and the Parade of Lights occur in the winter months. There is truly an event for everyone.

We hope that near the tail end of summer we will be able to host our Duck Races again and once more celebrate the fact that we have such a lovely river to play in.

These events, and more, can be found on our website at www.pinerivermn.com and on our Facebook page.

As always, we continue to look ahead to the future and plan for the growth that has been consistently coming our way. In 2023, Pine River will be celebrating its sesquicentennial. While events are still being planned, we cannot wait to look back over the past 150 years and celebrate those who brought us to this point.

“Like” and follow the Pine River Chamber of Commerce on Facebook and find us online at www.pinerivermn.com to stay up to date on local events!

Michaela Reed, Executive Director

Pine River Chamber of Commerce